Mon, Jun-11-12, 06:01
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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I eat like a caveman, do you?
Quote:
ABC News
June 11, 2012
I eat like a caveman, do you?
Are you ready for the next fad diet? The one that promises to help you lose the unwanted pounds just before you have to slip into that itsy-bitsy-tiny-weeny-bikini for the summer?
Or maybe everything you have tried just hasn't worked. Maybe you are that one person that loses the 10, albeit to put on 20 after that special event, like the wedding or the class reunion has come and gone.
You were, in your eyes, "skinny" just long enough to take the pictures that will forever be your proof that yes, at one time, I was that tiny.
Well maybe the fad dieting is over. Maybe the answer to your teetering scale is none other than The Paleo Diet.
You've probably heard about it. Plenty have been talking about it. Hundreds of books have been written on it. There are Twitter handles and Facebook accounts solely dedicated to it. There are now even cookbooks that show you the "Paleo Way" and how it will change your life starting right now!
But the question many are asking is: "What in the heck is the Paleo diet?"
Look no further than a Charleston certified fitness trainer Mark McGuirt.
"The general theory behind the Paleo diet and variations of it, is this [thought of] being fat comes primarily from eating a diet that is completely unsuited to our ancient genes and digestive system," explains McGuirt. "Our digestive systems, identical to the ones of our cavemen ancestors, simply are unsuited for the staples of today's diet like dairy, refined sugar and processed food."
Wait! Did he just say CAVEMEN?? Believe me, when he first told me about this one, I gave him the raised eyebrow and told him he was going to have to explain that one further. And so he did.
"Our bodies just can't support ‘today's diet'. By returning to a diet that humans lived on for the vast majority of their time on earth, we can correct a great many of the problems in human health, including but not limited to obesity."
So what is he saying? Well, basically, the diet is that of proteins and vegetables. That's the easy answer. When in doubt, if it didn't come from an animal and it's not a vegetable, then you shouldn't eat it...in the beginning stages of the diet anyway.
"In the two week boot camp [basically the start of your new life with Paleo] sugar is eliminated which is also in fruit remember! [So that does mean the fruit is out for the first 14 days of completely clean eating.] After the two weeks, we reintroduce low glycemic index fruits like blueberries, raspberries and blackberries," explains McGuirt. "These fruits have a low effect on insulin. Controlling insulin is the key to fat loss."
It all sounds great up until this point, but when I first heard about it, it sounded like just another Atkins diet…and we all know how that one turned out!
"The Paleo diet is looking more and more like The Atkins diet. When the Paleo diet first came out they demonized saturated fat intake and said stay away from it. That has changed with current research. Saturated fat will work well as a fuel as long as carbohydrates are low such that insulin is low."
So why would we want to be on a diet like Atkins, when studies show it only worked for a little while?
"With the Atkins plan most people did the introduction phase but [the difference between the two is] Atkins did not go to the next phases which are adding in fresh vegetable, fruits and nuts."
And that's what McGuirt says is key. While you are keeping up with this high protein diet, he says its important to up the fat! (I know it sounds like a catch-22 when you are trying to drop the pounds, but take it from someone that has been going Paleo strong for 40 days, it works!)
"This is a diet you can stay on forever. It is challenging in the beginning because most people's taste buds are so overwhelmed by sugar and salt in their foods that the Paleo diet seems very bland," says McGuirt. "In the words of my mentor Charles Poliquin, ‘Carbs must be earned!' When you decrease your intake of carbohydrates, you must increase your fat intake. Healthy fats that is, such as walnuts, macadamia nuts and avocados. You have to replace those calories to keep you energy up. Fat does not make you fat. Uncontrolled insulin by eating excessive carbohydrate does. If you combine high carb with high fat it spells disaster."
Still not convinced? It might be internal!
"You cannot treat this as a diet. It must be a lifestyle change," McGuirt says. "The main secret to eating Paleo is to plan your meals in advance, learn to cook some recipes [see sample paleo pizza recipe below] from some good Paleo cookbooks and have a cheat meal every 3 days after the 2 week introduction phase."
Look at it this way, if nothing has worked up until this point, then what do you have to lose?
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http://www.abcnews4.com/story/18652...-caveman-do-you
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